Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) broke with former President Trump on Monday over Trump’s decision to back away from endorsing a national 15-week abortion ban, declaring that leaving the issue entirely to the states “runs contrary to an American consensus that would limit late-term abortions.”
“I respectfully disagree with President Trump’s statement that abortion is a states’ rights issue,” he said in a statement responding to Trump.
Trump on Monday reversed course on his plan to support a 15-week or 16-week national abortion ban amid pushback from top Republicans, who warned it would put the issue of abortion rights at the forefront of the 2024 campaign and hurt their chances of taking back the White House and the Senate majority.
Graham, however, argued that “the pro-life movement has always been about the wellbeing of the unborn child — not geography.”
“The science is clear — a child at fifteen weeks is well-developed and capable of feeling pain,” he said. “I will continue to advocate that there should be a national minimum standard limiting abortion at fifteen weeks because the child is capable of feeling pain, with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.”
He reiterated his argument that 47 of 50 European countries have national limits on abortions between 12 and 15 weeks.
“This is the civilized world’s position,” he said.
Graham told The Hill earlier this year that he would reintroduce his legislation to implement a nationwide 15-week abortion ban before the general election, but he signaled Monday he may shift course and focus instead on legislation to mandate the use of anesthesia on fetuses aborted after 15 weeks.
“The least we can do is to provide anesthesia to an unborn child facing an abortion at fifteen weeks because they can feel pain. Therefore, I will be introducing new legislation requiring abortion providers to administer anesthesia to an unborn child at fifteen weeks because they are capable of feeling pain,” he said in his statement.
“It is common medical practice to administer anesthesia to operate on an unborn child at fifteen weeks to save their life,” Graham noted.
Trump had previously signaled his intention to support a 15-week abortion ban.
“The number of weeks, now, people are agreeing on 15, and I’m thinking in terms of that, and it’ll come out to something that’s very reasonable,” he told the New York radio show “Sid & Friends in the Morning” last month.
Trump told advisers and allies earlier this year that he favored the idea of a 16-week abortion ban with exceptions for cases of rape or incest and to protect the life of the mother.
A majority of House Republicans have endorsed a national abortion ban, which was included in the budget proposal unveiled last month by the Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus within the House Republican Conference.
Trump, however, announced Monday that he now doesn’t see a role for the federal government in restricting abortions nationwide, even after 15 or 16 weeks.
“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint,” Trump said in a video posted to Truth Social. “The states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case, the law of the state.”
“Many states will be different. Many will have a different number of weeks or some will have more conservative than others and that’s what they will be,” he said. “At the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people. You must follow your heart, or in many cases your religion or your faith.”
Brett Samuels contributed.